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2008 Mazda RX 8: Happy 40th Anniversary, Wankel Twin!

You gotta love the stick-to-it-iveness of the contrarians at Mazda. The Hiroshima, Japan, based automaker launched the world's first two-rotor Wankel-engine production car 40 years ago -- in May 1967 -- by which point manufacturers around the globe were buying licensing rights and launching development programs. This flurry of interest produced some exotic experimental concepts, like the stunning four-rotor mid-engine Corvette of 1973 and the Mercedes Benz C111. But when the first energy crisis of the early 1970s hit, the conventional thinkers all walked away, unwilling to face the cost of developing and retooling to build a radical new engine that demonstrated a penchant for guzzling gas. Having already tooled up for Wankel production, Mazda soldiered on, improving fuel economy (somewhat -- Wankels are still not known for their parsimony) and overcoming the excessive oil consumption that plagued early examples. Hence, Mazda is celebrating 40 years of rotary power this year as the only company still producing rotary-powered cars.

The Wankel has much to recommend it. There are very few moving parts (no cams, rockers, valves, valve springs, etc.), which reduces manufacturing and maintenance costs. The rotors turn at 1/3 the speed of the crankshaft, so the stresses on it are far less than those on pistons moving at similar crankshaft speeds, which boosts reliability -- as demonstrated by Mazda's overall win in the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1991 (which led to banning Wankels from the race). The engine is compact and lightweight. When properly balanced, it's smooth-running (an early single-rotor design from Germany's NSU didn't enjoy such balance and shook like a Harley). This is largely due to the lack of reciprocating parts and to the six combustion events that occur per crankshaft revolution (though in truth, it sounds more like a 10- or 12-cylinder engine note than a six).

Compared with competitive sports cars of today, the naturally aspirated RX-8 twin-rotor engine boasts unique power-delivery characteristics, with a fairly flat torque curve that peaks at a modest 159 pound-feet, way up at 5500 rpm. Power peaks at 232 horses and 8900 revs. There's so little low-end torque, in fact, that launching from a stop, especially on a hill, requires more revs than one expects in any similarly powerful piston-engine car. There's a bit less compression braking available, and the engine's ability to hold the car on a grade when parked in gear without the emergency brake is limited.

But against these peculiarities, the RX-8 delivers turbine-smooth acceleration and immense handling benefits directly attributable to the Wankel engine. First, it weighs far less than a similarly powerful V-6, so there's less car to accelerate, brake, or turn. Second, because it's so much smaller than an overhead-cam vee or inline engine it can be packaged lower in the car, dropping the overall center of gravity and making the car less likely to roll in corners. The small size also allows it to be placed well aft of the front-wheel centerline, concentrating the mass within the wheelbase, which improves the polar moment of inertia and makes the car more eager to change directions.

In celebration of the 40th anniversary of Mazda's original Cosmo Sport 110S rotary, the company will introduce a limited-production 40th Anniversary RX-8 in early 2008. The 40th Anniversary RX-8 will feature a new Metropolitan Gray exterior color with a Cosmo Red leather interior color scheme, unique 18-inch alloy wheels, suspension enhancements, foglamps, a silver engine cover, and special badging. (We'd have gone with white over a black-and-white vinyl and cloth hound's-tooth interior for the sake of historical resonance, but they didn't ask, and white's a slower seller in the sports-car realm.)

As part of the birthday celebration, Mazda provided RX-8s for use during the Pebble Beach Concours weekend in Central California, and I took the opportunity to head up away from the crowds for some wine tasting (and spitting) in the famed Napa Valley. This is truly the ideal rig for such a journey. The trunk accommodates everything two people can legally carry onto an airplane (and trust me, if your roll-aboard luggage doesn't fit in the overhead bin, it probably won't squeeze through the RX-8's mail-slot trunk opening). This leaves the back seat free for a Styrofoam-lined wine-shipping case or two (we will be checking luggage on the way home, after all). The rear-hinged rear half-doors make it a breeze to load each new purchase (and also would make this the only choice of sports car into which to buckle kids in child seats). On twisty, hilly stretches like the Oakville Grade connecting the Sonoma and Napa valleys, the car's 3000-pound curb weight and superb weight distribution make it a nimble, agile-handling dance partner. With no excessive pitch or rolling motions and an expansive view out the front and sides, even my co-pilot/navigator enjoyed the ride with no danger of losing his spectacular roadside barbeque lunch from Buster's in Calistoga.

It should be noted, of course, that light weight and nimbleness don't come entirely free. There's less sound deadening in an RX-8 than you might find, say, in a Mustang. Tire noise on coarse concrete drowns out conversation and multi-channel audio fidelity, and the impact noise from expansion joints and Bott's dots seem extra loud. Also, those who insist on bank-vault-quality door-closure sound will be put off with the sound the front doors make latching against those wonderfully handy rear doors.

But one thing's for sure: No other sporting car on the planet sounds and feels anything like any Mazda Wankel-powered vehicle. Mazda's continuous and relentless development has kept the Wankel smog-legal and relevant for 40 years, and there's no foreseeable end in sight. Because the combustion and exhaust events take place in a different part of the engine than the intake and compression, the intake area remains much cooler, making the Wankel rotary ideally suited for hydrogen combustion, and demonstrator vehicles are on the road in Japan today. So we say happy birthday, Mazda Rotary, and many, many more.;

When I was last car shopping, early spring, I test drove an automatic model. (I know, but it was all they had on the lot.) It was fun to drive. The manual mode for the transmission is no VW, but it actually felt fairly natural, especially on those long s-curve on-ramps. Alas, the rear seat wasn't as room as I would have liked, so I passed, but it seemed like it would have been a fun car to own.